Tag Archives: visa freeze

Good News, Bad News: Adoption-Immigration Updates

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Your response to this news depends on your perspective about adoption. Do you support adoption through the lifetime of adoptees, or only when the babies and children arrive?

Per my post How Does the Recent U.S. Freeze on Visas from 75 Countries Affect International Adoptees?, the Trump Administration recently announced that immigrant visas from 75 countries are being frozen.

The freeze thus affected international adoptees in the process of being adopted: they are considered immigrants seeking permanent U.S. citizenship.

While international adoption numbers have dropped significantly in recent years, some countries–such as Colombia, Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Thailand, Cameroon, Haiti, and others–still send children to the U.S. for adoption. That was paused when the immigrant visa freeze was put into effect.

The State Department yesterday announced an adoption exception to the visa freeze:

“Effective January 21, 2026, the Department of State paused visa issuances to immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of 75 countries.

President Trump and his Administration support families and intercountry adoption.

In countries where the issuance of immigrant visas is currently limited or paused, children being adopted by Americans can qualify for an exception under the National Interest Exception. (Emphasis mine.)

These American families should continue the normal adoption process.  They should submit visa applications and attend consular interviews.  They do not need to take other additional steps to be considered for a case-by-case exception under the National Interest Exception.

For additional details, visit travel.state.gov here.”

Why is this good news/bad news?

It’s good news to the families whose adoptions were in process. I hope it’s good news for the children being adopted. I hope their adoptions have no fraud or coercion connected to them. I hope the children are well cared for here.

It’s good news for the National Council for Adoption, which lobbied for this exception, and for the adoption agencies who did so as well. It’s bad news for all the other potential immigrants from those 75 countries.

It’s a carve out, an exception, an opening of a door. I’ve no doubt there is an emotional factor here, especially for folks who see adoption as only wonderful.

I get why folks don’t want to acknowledge the struggles that adoption causes for some adoptees, or the role that fraud, money, and corruption have played in international adoption.

Those images of sweet babies being adopted into American homes are powerful.

Those sweet babies grow up. Even in the most loving of adoptive homes, adoptees may feel like outsiders. They may yearn to reconnect with their original family and heritage. They may deal with a lack of medical history that shows mental illness or other conditions. They may deal with ambiguous or other forms of grief. And, I know, they may roll through life just fine.

Some international adoptees, whether from loving or abusive adoptive homes, will be deported. Some have been, some have died, some will be deported in the days to come.

That State Department press release says “President Trump and his Administration support families and intercountry adoption.”

A sleeping infant in a pink onesie and hat secured in a car seat, with a soft focus on the baby's face and hands.

I’d guess most members of the U.S. Congress also support families and intercountry adoption.

Yet the Congress has not, for over 15 years, passed legislation to grant citizenship to all international adoptees.

Could a “National Interest Exception” for little child adoption visas extend possibly to adult adoptee citizenship?

Will the National Council for Adoption and adoption agencies mount a significant advocacy campaign for citizenship for all international adoptees, as they did for the little children to arrive here with their “forever families”? Will more adoptive parents, including those whose children are U.S. citizens, speak out and use their power to insist on citizenship for all international adoptees?

Will the Congress pass and the President sign the “Protect Adoptees and American Families” act? Please urge your members of Congress to sign on to the bill, especially Republicans,

Or will the news continue only to be bad for adult adoptees, now in their 40’s, 50’s and older, who did not acquire citizenship through no fault of theirs?

Mike is not the only adoptee who’s been deported, and I urge you to support the work of Adoptees for Justice to help all international adoptees obtain citizenship. Adoptees should have the same rights and privileges as other family members.

In the almost 4 years since we’ve been running this campaign, folks have donated over $5000, for which we are very grateful. Mike has used the funds for legal and medical expenses, as well as occasionally for living expenses, to survive alone at 63 years old of age. Please donate, as we are beginning to run low on funds. Even a small amount is deeply appreciated, and will be used responsibly. Many thanks.

Portrait of a middle-aged man with a serious expression, wearing a light-colored polo shirt, set against a plain background.

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How Does the Recent U.S. Freeze on Visas from 75 Countries Affect International Adoptees?

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President Trump recently announced that immigrant visas from 75 countries are being frozen; “the freeze, which takes effect on 21 January, targets applicants officials deem likely to become a ‘public charge’ – people who they believe may rely on government benefits for basic needs.”

The freeze thus affects international adoptees in the process of being adopted: they are considered immigrants seeking permanent U.S. citizenship.

Temporary visas are not included in the freeze. That’s why visitors for the World Cup will be fine as well as other tourist, student, and business visas.

The freeze affects folks who are looking to be in the U.S. permanently, such as Permanent Residents (green card holders) who can work here, collect Social Security, travel internationally and return to the U.S., file taxes, and obey all laws. Green card holders over the age of 18 must carry their green cards at all times.

International adoptees typically travel with an IR-3 or IR-4 (Immediate Relative) visa or an IH-3/I-H 4 (Immediate Hague) visas.

Those adoptee visas are frozen now.

Of the 75 countries for which immigrant visas are currently frozen, about 20 are currently open to international adoption. The numbers of adoptions from those countries are for the most part small. Some of the countries have signed The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption; some have not. A list of Hague countries is here. Some have signed The Hague treaty and are not open to adoption now.

The bottom line is that the U.S. government has frozen adoption-related visas from countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Thailand, Cameroon, Haiti, and others. I have no idea how many children are currently designated for international adoption from any of those countries. It’s probably in the low hundreds, I’d guess.

In any case, their visas are frozen, since adoptees fall into that category of immigrant seeking to be in the U.S. permanently who could become “public charges,” meaning they might need long-term institutional care or care that is otherwise long-term for basic needs, like long-term Medicaid.

An Ethiopian little girl in a white dress walks along a road near green trees.
Personal photo by Maureen McCauley

Children with special needs, many of whom are adopted to the U.S., could fall into this category of potentially needing long-term care. “Special needs” is a phrase that covers correctable medical conditions (cleft palate, some heart ailments), or physical conditions which may not be correctable but are more easily managed in the U.S. than in countries of origin. These might include limb differences, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, blindness, for example. Special needs can also include emotional and developmental needs, some of which emerge over time. Trauma–such as separation from one’s mother, country, and culture; abuse and neglect; exposure to violence; natural disasters; housing of food insecurity– is often part of adoption. Obviously, not all people with special needs ever become “public charges” or need long-term care.

While international adoption numbers have declined in recent years, due to fraud, corruption, increased costs, trafficking, stricter regulations, more emphasis on in-country adoption, some countries still send children with special needs, often called waiting children (this could include sibling groups) for international adoption). I realize this is not always the case, but many of these children get far better care here than they otherwise would have.

The current visa freeze ends that possibility. There is no suggestion at this point that there will be an exception for adoptees.

What will be the outcry about this?

One reason I am curious is because of a parallel with the deportation of adoptees. International adoptees without U.S. citizenship have not been exempt from deportation.

Our country has shown virtually no interest or compassion about the notion that international adoptees, brought with the legal permission of the sending country and the U.S, to be here forever, should not be subject to deportation.

That we deport international adoptees is, to me, a shameful tragedy. It seems similarly tragic that we are now banning adoptions particularly of vulnerable children. Yet it is also consistent in terms of U.S. policy, supported by our federal government.